Commissioners vote to pay $33,167 ordered paid in J.D. Tomlinson public records case

Lorain County commissioners voted Friday to pay more than $33,000 a Common Pleas judge awarded to James Barilla and his attorney Jonathan Rosenbaum in attorney fees and costs after they sued the county two years ago. The $33,167.13 that visiting Judge Thomas Teodosio ordered the county to pay will come out of the general fund. "This is one of the most unpleasant things a commissioner has to do, is pay these kinds of bills," Commissioner Jeff Riddell said Friday upon voting to pay the fees, expenses and $1,000 in damages. "I feel that it's about $32,167 too much," Commissioner David Moore said, a reference to $1,000 in damages the county was ordered to pay for violating open records law. "I'm not a happy camper on this one." Barilla, an attorney from Avon Lake, sued former county Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson and the county in 2024 for records related to a $100,000 employment settlement Tomlinson paid to his former employee and girlfriend, Jennifer Battistelli. Commissioners approved the settlement in late 2023 after Battistelli resigned. She alleged she was discriminated against and harassed while working in Tomlinson's office and wrote up a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was never filed. Tomlinson refused to release the EEOC complaint until Teodosio ordered him to. Teodosio ruled late last year that no public documents were destroyed or hidden, no violations of open meetings or public records law occurred and commissioners didn't illegally spend the settlement funds and weren't liable. Tomlinson, a Democrat, declined comment Friday. Barilla is a Republican. "I think it was ugly politics," said Moore, also a Republican. "I think all parties were guilty of playing politics with taxpayer funds and we're the ones who have to vote on it. I think it's disgusting." Critics of the commissioners verbally pounced on them during the public comment period at Friday's meeting. Public records "are the peoples' records," said Gerald Phillips of Avon Lake, who is also an attorney and a vocal critic of government and the current county administration. "It's appalling how public officials in various governments abuse the law." William Zimmerman, also of Avon Lake, called it "bad business." "You guys say you're good businessmen," he told commissioners. "That's bad business." Transparency when providing public records is a requirement because "the public has a right to know," Zimmerman said. The Lorain County Sheriff's Office and a special prosecutor are investigating whether Tomlinson broke the law in the Battistelli affair. Tomlinson has denied any wrongdoing. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com